More than a million miles later and 40 years after he took a position at United Parcel Service, Inc. in Sioux Falls, Richard Schneider recently delivered his last package to customers and clients he’s grown to love.

Schneider of Dell Rapids, retired Jan. 31 from UPS after driving for the company for 39 years. Taking the job at age 20 in 1973, he became a driver a year later and in 1976 began serving the Dell Rapids area. He delivered packages to Dell Rapids and the surrounding area until 2005.

Seeing the same people everyday, Schneider built relationships he still maintains, and not driving and encountering those friends on a daily basis anymore is a draw back to retirement.

“Most of my friends I met through my route,” Schneider said.

And he’s not exaggerating. Schneider said in the late 1980s, he and wife Mary were looking to move out of Sioux Falls, where they had been living, and into a smaller community to raise their children, Angela, Brad and Ryan.

“I was already spending a lot of time in Dell Rapids anyway,” he said, referring to a softball team he played on and other Dell Rapids recreational activities he participated in.

In 1990, the Schneiders moved to Dell Rapids and never left.

Schneider said he plans to spend his extra time traveling, riding his Harley-Davidson, fishing and spending time at his family lake cabin.Squeeky clean
Schneider earned a spot in UPS’s Circle of Honor with 38 years of accident-free driving. Only one other UPS driver in the South Dakota has achieved the same milestone.